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Pave the Way for Improved Productivity! BY LAUREN PENNy
A vibrant New Year is upon us, seize the moment and assess ways to improve your productivity, achieve the goals you set for yourself and have fun along the way. Lauren Penny is CEO of Art of Abundant Living, offering corporate consultancy services in Employee Engagement, Wellness Programs & Health Coaching.
your questions answered: Q: I am constantly interrupted at work by colleagues and team members and at the end of the day I have not achieved anything I set, what do you suggest? (Carly) A: Plan your schedule for the week and inform your team and colleagues of the “accessible time” you have allocated. We often find that open plan offices have increased the rate of interruptions. Be clear, for example, that between 11 and 1 is the timeframe when you are available to assist. This may also help minimize interruptions as colleagues are likely to think twice are likely to think twice or find other ways to solve their issue. Q: My manager continues to come to me with urgent work and I find myself getting stressed and staying back overtime to complete everything that she requests of me, how I can I confront her? (Alya) A: This is a common challenge. I suggest you arrange a weekly meeting with your manager to discuss the week’s projects and priorities. As new tasks come your way, you can openly discuss which projects can be moved or reprioritized, so you can focus on the important deliverables. This will also help you keep open communication between you and your manager of expectations.
104 ABODE JANUARY 2012
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s we bid farewell to another year, you may have noticed or reflected —what you did well in 2011, did you achieve what you set out to do, identify what were the challenges, where did you go off the track, which goals did you achieve, what went well? January is one of my favourite times of the year, as it’s the time I can make improvements the time I can make improvements to set a solid framework for creating success in the new year. A decision to improve your productivity may not result in instant change; however, with determination, vision, passion and commitment, you will achieve what you set out to achieve. I invite you to take the time this month to pave the way for 2012 to be your best year ever.
2012 gOAls Spend quiet time on your own to set your goals for the year. Write them down and make it colourful, adding relevant, inspiring images and then place it somewhere you will see it frequently. Choose between one and three goals in each of the below categories.
yeAr gOAls iN liFe Career Health Financial Relationships Love Self Development
Balance self development community Now you have set your goals, find yourself an accountability partner and have fun catching up and reviewing your progress every three months.
geT A PlANNer One of the key items for productivity is the planner. You can use any kind of planner size; choose what suits your style of either full date pages or multiple days on pages.
Be cONsisTeNT Each month set your goals; this could be to move forward one step on a large project of your overall year goal or to consistently improve in one area of your life. Whichever it may be, set it at the start of the month and mark down which days you will focus on these. Be consistent, as consistency leads to greatness.
PlAN dAily AcTs OF excelleNce To move a mountain one must move one pebble at a time. Act in tiny, daily changes of excellence to move forward in the areas you feel you need improvement. Successful coach tip I learnt from Robin Sharma is to pick a maximum of five things you can do to move forward and keep these acts simple. For example, if you want to eat more healthfully, look at where you’re out of balance and see what you can do to improve. Perhaps
»You can write to Lauren with questions regarding corporate living. Questions will be selected for the next publication with your permission. Please email: lauren@artofabundantliving.com